awareness about a disorder that affects millions around the world. >> that will do it for this edition of al jazeera. a reminder that we'll have more on the shooting at fort hood in texas. thanks for watching. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you are in the stream. your money and national security at the polls in afghanistan. my cohost and digital producer

is here. when afghans head to the polls, they are choosing a new direction, progressive, hopefully, but it has a tremendous impact on the u.s. and the u.s. investment to date. >> it's a new narrative. when most americans look at it, it's seen through war and violence. we have afghans tweeting in, and they are hopeful for a new way forward. we have this: on the flipside: >> then we have:

who will lead afghanistan as they begin a new era, eight men are vying to replace hamid karzai. representing the first democratic transfer of power in the country since 2001 when coalition forces ousted the taliban. in the decade since the u.s. invested money, mann power and sacrificed more than 2,000 lives, helping to build the foundation for a new way to govern. while the election brings hope. it brings concerns, rumours of voter fraud and election rigging that plagued afghan politics. every surface along with the taliban carrying out high-profile attacks in the hopes of scaring away voters from the polls and undermining the election. it highlights concerns about security to keep u.s. forces past year's end.

could corruption and violence doom afghanistan's young democracy, undo the progress made with u.s. investment and create national security concerns. helping to shape the conversation we are joined by a former advisor to afghan president hamid karzai, and the author of" walking in the footsteps of lions," and tony schafer who served two combat tours in afghanistan and awarded the bronze star, and david, a defense department official on afghanistan and pakistan. welcome to "the stream." >> tony, americans have invested $700 billion, endless amounts of resources, 2,000 lives lost. how much of that hinges are on the election coming up this weekend. >> it comes down to selection, to be blunt. we talked before the opening of the show about the zero option. it is something that would leave

afghanistan in a huge lurch. there's two reasons why. so much of what afghanistan depends upon right now is foreign aid coming in. about 30% of the economy is fuelled by illegal drug sales, and i don't think it's the way to go. what you need to look at is economic sovereignty. pentagon has been working on this. my friend who was working on this was trying to find a way to have afghanistan become economically soft. n.a.t.o. has done, they have left pretty much, and we are left holding the bag and trying to help them get on their feet. second is corruption, and the taliban. we can't control those factors. whoever is president is responsible for the security thing, and, of course, the dangling part, is a security agreement that the taliban - as far as i can tell, the afghan people want. hamid karzai refused to sign, and the agreement is not signed

quickly, within the next six months, disease 2014, we are down to zero option and afghan is on its own. >> we want you to pick up on the zero option, because we know it's something afghanis are concerned about. >> we hear about the zero option. as i must tell you, that this is considered as an ugly term in afghanistan. because what would happen is at the zero option means that western forces, especially the united states would leave afghanistan, and they will be left to its own devices, as it was abandoned in the 1990s, and the mess that happened after that. the attacks on the u.s. sail and all that emanated from that abandonment of afghanistan. the zero option also has some

very serious consequences for afghanistan and pakistan, which in my opinion, if that happens and the united states leaves afghanistan to its own devices, the ruing class in pakistan will collapse and the radicals will take over, and the floodgates of hell will be hope, and there'll be a tidal wave of terrorists that will take over pakistan with their nuclear weapons, and they would overrun afghanistan in a short period of time, and then they'll grow legs and cross over the river and take over the central asian republics. >> what does that mean for u.s. security? >> well, if those scenarios came to pass, it would be disastrous for u.s. security. the united states has already

invested thousands of lives, billions of dollars, and we are the afghan people. what we'll see in the lbz is a strong rejection of the taliban, a massive turn out of the afghan people in the election because they want to choose their own people. we'll see a security force protecting the elections better than analysts thought. it's unfortunate that people in the united states only get a small slither of what is going on in afghanistan, giving them a false picture, the picture of violence and a failing society that many americans have of afghanistan is 180 degrees different from what most afghans see themselves. 60%, over 60% of after gans think society is going in the right direction. over the last 12 years, they've made more progress in any social indicator than anyway in the world. these are stories that americans don't know about.

on saturday, when the afghans go out to elect a new president. we'll see young people waving their fingers in the air with ink on the fingers, daring the taliban to cut them off. this is where the american people can be proud of their progress, and the leading candidates, dr abdullah abdullah, and others have made it clear they are prepared to sign a bilateral security agreement with the united states and condition the partnership and friendship. i'm very optimistic. >> let's make predictions about the election. michael says the only thing we can confidently predict is that it will happen:.

>> you have been to afghanistan - corruption, will we see this. >> you'll see everything you mentioned. the question is what is the outgrowth of the results. because this is such a wide number of - it will be hard for one guy to stuff all the ballot boxes. there's patronage, people paying up and down the chain of command so to speak. everyone benefits, it doesn't change the fact they'll go to the polls. the taliban is trying to disrupt this. they have been successful getting rid of international observers. part of the problem is we have only secured the urban areas. most of the afghan people do not read or write. they are completely outside the

sphere of where we set up the security zone. they are effective in setting up the government. will we be able to maintain the bilateral agreement. this drives me nuts, the afghan people were not ungoverned before we came there, they were self governed. this is a problem with artificial policy. we ignore the fact that afghanistan does not have a tradition of democracy, it took us 20 years to get the democracy going. even though progress has been made, and that's my concern, the chances are good that we'll see, as stipulated by the guest from kabul, that everything will fall into chaos. >> i need to break in here and stress afghanistan has changed a lot in the last 10 years. afghanistan is no longer a primary rural society. half the people live in cities. urban areas are vibrant.

kabul was a city of less than 2,000, is now over 5 million. it has undergone change. the tribal dynamics exist, but they are different to so years ago. the afghan people are making choices on their own. what will be important on this seat are the afghan people who go out and vote. that voting in and of itself, regardless of who they choose will send a signal to the taliban. that the rest of the afghan people, 80 plus% of the people that -- 80 plus per cent of the people will go forward. the afghan security force has done a good job. there has been some isolated attacks, reported too much in the press. the afghan security forces are taking high casualties, but they are saving the lives of their compatriots. >> we have to hit a break.

u.s. forces are ready to step down. is the military ready to step up. someone back from afghanistan. her account of what is happening on the ground next.

. >>. >> thanks to our military, our

allies, and the brave fighters of afghanistan, the taliban regime is coming to an end. >> welcome back. president bush made the statement in 2001, before signing the afghan relief act. they are still active in afghanistan, and many believe are focussing on derailing the election, carrying out attacks by a suicide bomb. the explosion killed six members of the afghan police force. joining us now is an activist and cofounder of the alliance for support of afghan people. welcome to the show. >> governments outside of afghanistan are focussing on the worst case scenario. the taliban getting on opening. what is the overall sentiment to the elections. >> i had the is it the privilege of witnessing and being part of

every election since 2002. the elections since 2004. what i witnessed when i went back is a tremendous level of excitement about the elections and more than what i have seen since the beginning much 2002. there's a sense that this is the first time that there's not an inevitable candidate and it will be a contested election in which photos will count. every conversation i had, was about the afghan election. it's all people riveted about, the debates on television and radio. they are watching the polls with scrutiny. a great deal of excitement and tremendous level of anxiety. there's a deep sense that this is an election that will determine afghanistan's fewer, and whether the peace will hold post 2014. the u.s. - there's a lot of attention to the troop numbers,

and the bilateral security agreement. in afghanistan it's all about the elections. >> she brings up something interesting. most afghanis believe it will be a disputed election. something similar was said. it essentially was going to be a negotiated process. is that what will happen, there'll be a brokered agreement that it wasn't quite right. >> let's be honest. corruption and basically it was a second insurgency. with that in mind, we have to be cognisant of the fact that there'll be all sorts of games played. this is the way business is done in that part of the world. aime saying that's -- i'm saying that's the way things play out. if you look at the election through a western lens, you have a different rehabilitation. >> the people i talk to in congress think we need to be done with it. it's up to them to figure out we

shouldn't be involved. corruption gets people fired up. i was talking to a democrat congressman, and he said we have helped fuel the corruption we see by the fact of pouring so much funny in there. we are a conspire tore in allowing this chaos to exist. with that said, the two things we grey upon is this is the afghan's people chance to get it right. this is a good chance. second thing in dispute is what will happen in december. we have sufficient military forces to maintain the afghan forces, and will our congress support that. members i advise wants us to stop and be done with it. other members do not feel as strongly, that we have to hang in and continue the investment. this is where the american debate comes into it. i don't think people fully understand what is going on.

i don't think the american people care. it's a war-weary society. this is the way the american people feel. we are tired, the war drained us. there's not a clear end in site. we are now stepping up to take responsibility, that will help congress make a decision to continue the investment of 10,000 troops. the debate is happening in the community. >> this says: you mentioned the afghan security forces: >> is the afghan security force really prepared to handle the

security of afghanistan if u.n. and u.s. forces leave - n.a.t.o. forces leave, and if not, is the united states to blame for not preparing and training them? >> the thing is that just a few minutes back, some of the speakers were talking about the $700 billion, and i think that money is well spent in afghanistan. it prevented many negative things to happen in the region. first of all, it was possible that the backstabbing elite could have collapsed if n.a.t.o. and u.s. were not in afghanistan, and the atomic weapons would have fallen into the hands of terrorists. i'll give you those facts. i'm talking about those things, this mum your, the $700 million has been well spent. today pakistan could within

under the extremist with atomic weapons. afghanistan would have been under them, central asia threatened, russia and china. what i'm saying is the money has been well spend, and there's a lot of the absence of u.s. forces in afghanistan. even if it's a token force, would be psych: ic -- psychological. we defeated the soviet union, and the mighty superpower. >> what does an ideal election outcome in afghanistan look like for the u.s.? >> an ideal election outcome in afghanistan for the u.s. is one that the afghan people themselves embrace, one where there's not a great deal of controversy and does not result in demonstrations in the street,

one that does not result in division, but brings people together. i think there's a possibility for that, but that's up to the afghans. >> does it include the bilateral security agreement to keep troops there. >> that definitely is going to happen. all the three leading candidates, all the polls show are going to be the next president said they'd sign it. the afghan people through their lawyer jirga endorsed it strongly last year. i don't think there's a question is that the bilateral security agreement will be signed. i want to say a word about the afghan security forces. as i mentioned before, they are doing well. th are good fighters. what they don't have and need continued support for is building the institutions making the military accountable to the people, making them effective in the long term.

they need logistics, intelligence, in the ministry of defense. they take decades to build. they are the things we need to be there to help them build. in terms of fighting the afghan forces are good at that. >> what dave is saying is correct. i've heard stories how we are transitioning the afghan. you are an afghan, you don't speak english, here is a manual, here is the is the computer. good luck ordering spare parts. if we don't fix that all the security forces - they are great, special operations, but they don't have the logistics and support infrastructure that we and n.a.t.o. have been doing for them. if this is not fixed before december, this will result in a failure of the central economic apparatus of kabul. >> americans are on a mission,

using sweat equity, and we'll explain that

>>. >> i'm question, project editor with google voices and i'm in the stream. >> welcome back, we are discussing the afghan elections, and what the outcome means for the democracy, we talked about investments by the u.s. government. other americans are stepping up to help. talk about what organizations like yours are doing to bring about stability. >> if i can go back to an earlier comment.

when i talked about the elections, i was not suggesting that it would be disputed, but decisive. i think that that's the key element that afghans are looking towards. in terms of the organization, i am involved as well as david stead ni, who is with us, is the alliance in support. afghan people, a coalition, bipartisan in the u.s. and internationally, including and representatives throughout the international community that support a sustainable and long-term engagement. what we are trying to do is go back and reflect some of the positive stories that don't get to the u.s. as dade noted earlier, there has been significant progress in the last 12 years, and there has been little light shed on that. when i have had speaking engagements, i had people some up and ask me what are the

positive outcomes of the international assistance, the u.s. assistance and afghanistan, and what we are trying to do is get out the stories and advocate for sustainable and responsible international assistance in afghanistan. so that the gains made in the last 12 years are not reversed. the problem is for a majority population, there are no faces. they are a bit poetic. i don't know the mind-set that the youth carries, but a country of war: >> i want to go to you with this about the future of afghan youth. what are they expecting from the upcoming elections? >> the afghan youth, i think, can play a major role. right now i'll tell you that

over 300,000 of them have volunteered. a few at my behest. i've been encouraging them to join the networks of young people to go and supervise and watch over the elections and monitor. and this so fired up, you know, i can imagine in a country like afghanistan, 300,000, and today some people in the election commission were telling me, calling me, that perhaps it might go up to 350,000. that shows the level of excitement of the youth. and all the three major candidates have been making plans that they will play a major leadership role, and there would be people that wouldder 4 be ministers and undersecretaries, and governor

said, so the - i am sure - i'm very. what do you call optimistic that if any of the three major candidates comes into power, there'll be major changes in afghanistan, positive changes. we shouldn't look at it from a pessimistic outlook. i think afghanistan right now - the united states and n.a.t.o. should be proud that the troops in afghanistan, the military and the police are at a stage where the terrorists were going to launch 706 plants and attacks during the last - the past two months. but the security forces have foiled 639 of those plots and 67 of those were carried out, of which 37... >> i'll have to stop you there. unfortunately we are out of

time. thank you to all or guests, until next time waj and i will see you online. >> struggling to cope. the u.n. says there are now a million registered syrian refugees in lebanon. >> this is al jazeera live from doha, also on the program, a gunman goes on a shooting rampage at a u.s. military base, leaving four dead. armed men kidnap two women at a popular tourist resort in malaysia, we'll have the latest. the amazing tale ofwo